The most commonly discussed topic pertaining to this issue is Section 6AA, also known as the "Section of Death". Wayzata, Edina, Minnetonka, Hopkins, Minneapolis Washburn, Eden Prairie, Robbinsdale Armstrong, and the list goes on of all the massive schools with very good programs who are in this section. Consider the following - the boys team from Minnetonka, a Lake Conference school who has historically maintained a very strong running program, has not qualified for State since 1992. Last year Minnetonka had a 16:35 average time of their top five runners at Sections, an excellent average for a Minnesota high school. If they had run a 16:35-16:40 average split at State they could have placed as high as third as a team, but they were not afforded this opportunity since they finished third to powerhouses Wayzata and Edina at sections. The girls from Wayzata failed to qualify as a team last year as well despite being ranked as a top five team throughout the season.
Section 6AA in particular has been this way for so long that the top teams have more or less accepted that they are stuck together. At times they treat their section race as their own State Meet because they know that come Nike Cross and Footlocker Regionals they will have a fair shot at qualifying for Nationals (like the Edina boys in 2015, despite having not qualified for State). Sections like 6AA (which is admittedly an extreme example, though a highly relevant one), Section 5A, Section 3AA, or (on the other extreme) Section 7AA have repeatedly been questioned and lamented by frustrated athletes, coaches, and parents. The only response given by the MSHSL is that sections and section assignments are a celebration of the geographic diversity of the state, and the caliber of the schools' programs in each section ought not have any bearing on how they are assigned.
Although this statement appears somewhat logical, and this is 'only high school athletics,' after all, the result is a system that makes no effort to correct a known flaw which excludes teams or individuals who have demonstrated themselves to be one of the state's most elite. A State Championship should certainly be a celebration of all of the talent around the state, but it also has to actually be a "championship," meaning that it has to bring together the best of the best and produce a winner. The top teams, and sometimes individuals, are often left out because of the flawed logic about how section assignment should happen.
Another section that demonstrates how 'geographic assignment' does not create an equal or fair chance for qualifying for State is section 4 in Nordic skiing. Numerous distance runners cycle through Nordic skiing as a way to cross train and take some strain off the joints over the winter. Since it is a slightly smaller sport there are no separate classes in Nordic skiing (so tiny schools like Mounds Park Academy compete directly against huge schools like Stillwater) and section 4 has had an unbelievable amount of competition on the team front for qualifying for State because it, like Section 6AA, is the skiing equivalent of the Section of Death. For those who aren't familiar, Forest Lake and Stillwater are historically the best programs in the state and produce the top teams. They are joined in section 4 by Mounds View, Roseville, White Bear Lake, Irondale, Como, Mahtomedi, and my tiny school in comparison, Mounds Park Academy. It is seemingly impossible for teams to compete with Stillwater and Forest Lake, and I cannot remember a recent year where they didn't take the team qualification spots for State.
This is undoubtedly one of the biggest issue in Nordic, but it has seemingly been swept aside by miscellaneous new rule changes such as how tall poles can be and what kind of waxes can be used.
There are a few more examples of sections that border on unfair, and yet when section rotation comes around every few years, and the same conversations are had over and over, the same majority always votes against a change in the way assignments are made. This is not only a team issue however. The Section-by-location method also can affect individual qualification, particularly in track. The most relevant example of this is Patrick Roos at sections this past spring.
Patrick Roos is a freshman, running D1 cross country and track at the University of Minnesota. He competed at Nike Cross Nationals three times over the course of his high school career, and was the 2016 Class AA cross country champion. Roos averaged a 3200 meter time of around 9:20 over his senior track season. He consistently was at the top of his races and at sections he ran a season PR of 9:13. 9:13, for those who may not know, is extremely fast, especially for Minnesota where conditions are not always favorable. This time was was the 3rd fastest time in the State up to that point. The only times that were faster were those run by Seth Eliason and teammate Zac Miller in that very same race. Since the top two individuals go, and the qualifying times for Class AA have become so fast due to people performing so well at State, Roos was left out of the 3200 meter State Championship race after running the fastest non-State-qualifying-time in Minnesota history. Roos' time would have won every other section, and even if he had emulated his worst time of the season at State he still would have beaten the majority of the field.
In a system that makes it so difficult for athletes like Patrick Roos to compete at State, not only is there an issue with how our sections are created, but in some cases, elite athletes lose the opportunity to showcase their talents on Minnesota's biggest stage. At the root of all these issues is the necessity to rethink the process of section assignment. Perhaps geographic location should be the most significant factor, but it should certainly not be the only factor (maybe student population, which often roughly correlates with skill level, should also be considered). In order to showcase the entirety of Minnesotan talent, it is critical that changes are made, and it is clear that the current qualification process for State is not fully representative of the best talent in the Minnesota.
Happy running!
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